Apparatus for extracting grease and oils.



C. EDGERTON.

APPARATUS POR EXTRAGTING GREASE AND OILS.

APPLICATION FILED IEEB.5, 1912.

1,024,838. Patented A111230, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES 1,024,838. Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Harney CHARLES EDGERTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR EXTRACZTING- GREASE AND OILS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apl. 30V, 1912.

Application filed February 5, 1912. Serial No. 675,609.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES EDGERTON, a

citizen of the United 'States, residing at.

Philadelphizninthe county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting Grease and Oils, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of 'ap-v paratus known as percolators, and especially to percolators which are used for extracting grease and oils from garbage or other organic matter. In such extraction of oils it has been for many years al common lpractice to introduce intothe garbage some 'solvent of the oils, such as naphtha, and,

after agitation and saturation of the mass therewith, to draw ott' the dissolved oil with the solvent and then to reclaim the solvent remaining in the mass by means of steam, or heat in some form, by which the volatile naphtha in the vremaining mass is distilled and driven off into a condenser where it is liquefied for use again. One type of ma-V chine forgcarrying out such process is shown in my patent of Feb. 13, 1912 No. 1,017 ,51S which includes a -horizon'tal'cylinder mounted to revolve about its longitudinal axis and providedV with large inlet and outlet doors or man holes for charging and discharging the mass, and with supply pipes for the solvent 'and for steam and with draining or draw off pipes for .the solvent and oil 'and also with vapor pipes through whichA the solvent remaining in the mass is driven oit' and distilled, the construction being such as to avoid the necessity of the workman entering the cylinder and having also other advantages.

There are two important results which my present improvements are designed to accomplish, while'. still retaining all of the main advantages of the former apparatus. One of these results is the introduction of the naphtha and steam at one end of the revolving1 cylinder only, through a hollowtrunnion connectingwith pipes wholly inclosed within the cylinder, and the other is the taking oli of the va orized naphtha at the other end of the cylin er by a conduit also wholly linclosedwithin the cylinder, the advantages being the simplification of the operation and the simplification of the construction, avoiding all external joints in the open air and making the appara-tus more nearly self -contained.' 'A

My improvements will be first described in connection with the drawings, and then pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line -2-'-. 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the marginal'structure at one side of a man lhole and of the vaporoi'take conduit. der and Fig. 5 is a side view of the same.

.Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the -figures.

`In the drawing, A represents alarge horizontal cylinder casing or drum to whose heads are coaxially bolted the hollow trunb b on suitable supports. To one of the hollow trunnions a is rigidly keyed a large gear wheel b1 by-which a slow motion may be imparted to the cylinder to rotate .it on pipe d3 for the introduction of steam. Outf side of these pipe connections there is an elbow coupling dand a pop safety valve d- The coaxial pipe d, it will be seen, is capayble of lintroducing either naphtha nrv steam at will into the hollow trunnion a and this hollow trunnion communicates with two oppositely radiating pipes 'c c5A within the cylinder near its head. Pipe c communicates with a curved transverse pipe c? from' which t-wo groups-of pipes c1 c1, Figs. 1 and 2, extend along the horizont-alwallv of the cylinder in two, spaced-apart` groups, seev Fig. 2, the full length of the cylinder.

These pipes are provided along their length on their inner sides with rows of perfo'- rations of one quarter inch diameter. At the extreme ends Vof the pipes they are tapered to a reducedvdiameter but are left open.with a three-eighths inch hole in the end of each, which is purposely made larger Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the cylin-v Connecting with the pipe d8 by -nions a a1 which are sustained in bearings i than the size of the perforations along thel sides of the pipes. It is through these pipes that either naphtha or steam may be introduced into the mass of garbage and the object of making the holes in the pipes of the relative size indicated is, as in my former patent, to permit soft particles of garbage, which find their way into the interior of the pipes through the perforations, to be blown-out through the three-eighths inch hole at the en d by a blast of steam, since anything which will pass through the quarter-inch perforations will be readily and quickly blown out through the larger hole in the end of the pipe. The tapering of the pipe chokes the issuance of steam to compel the steam to issue through the small perforations. These pipes are spaced in two groups to give room for the large drainage openings between them and said pipes are held in pla-ce in parallel position b clips or yolres c2 riveted to the interior walls of the cylinder.

The other pipe 05 connects with a curved transverse pipe c7 which in turn communicates with parallel longitudinal perforated pipes 08 o8, arranged in two groups on opposite sides of theupper man holes and having the same'construction as the pipes c1 at the'bottom. These upper pipes es are for the nal spraying of naphtha on top of the garbage and take the place of the pipe 04 in my former patent referred to. Both thel pipes c and c5 have cut off valves 09 and 01, by which the flow of steam or napht-ha may be controlled alternately and these valves, as well as Athe pipes, are Wholly within the cylinder, but their operating stems extend through to the exterior of the shell.

lu constructing and arranging the doors or man holes l inake them of very large size and elongated or oblong shape, as seen in Fig. ll, and so close together in alinement that they form almost a continuous opening. rlhe Vman hole covers for the upper openings and the man hole covers of the lower openings are of identical pattern. rlhey are made of large size, so as to permit the incorporation therein of lters or strainers of large size which filters at the bottom man holes, are integral with the man hole covers and are removable together with the coversiloy the mere opening of the man hole; that is, when the cover is removed the filter goes with it. This permits the cleaning out of obstructed strainers without any neces sity for workmen to go inside the cylinder where the fumes of naphtha soon overpower them. rlhe filtering man hole covers at the bottom consists as in my former patent of an outer plate a* having spacing sleeves r on its inner side against which rests a liltering diaphragin composed of two flatperfora/ted plates ooo having between them a layer of burlap t or other fabric. Bolts s pass through the spacing sleeves and connect .the cover at and the filter together so that the plates at as are integrally remov- The cover and filter, or strainer, lit within marginal castiron frames a2 which are fixed to the cylinder and project outside of the same and said covers are secured in place by swinging draw bolts a? which pass llaterally into and out of slots around the margin of the cover. The sleeves 1 which separate the outer plate at of the cover from the filtering diaphragm or strainer are long enough to allow considerable space for the collectionv of the oil and solvent between Athe two when drawing olf. The filtering or of the cylindrical shell, the gathering space for the oil and solvent in the manhole covers is below the solid mass of garbage in the cylinder when draining off, so that all of the liquid may be drained off. The lower man holes are employed for charging .the garbage into the cylinder, and discharging it from the same, and also for straining and drawing off the o-il fronrthe garbage dissolved in -naphtha For the latter purpose a longitudinal drain pipe 0,13 runs along the sides of the lower man hole frames and has short connecting pipes entering the space between 'the man hole covers and their attached filters, as shown in my previous patent. The upper man holes are however, equipped in an entirely different manner. They have the same covers and means for fastening them, but have no attached filters or strainers. Instead thereof there is a partition P arranged longitudinally in the cylinder and spaced away about four inches from its top side and forming a longitudinal conduit P2 closed at one end and at the other end P1 extending down to the axis of the cylinder and communicating with a hollow trunnion at this end and thence to a condenser not shown. This partition has openings in it immediately beneath the upper man holes and approximately of the same size therewith. These openings are provided with strainers a5 formed of two perforated plates with an interposed layer of fabric, as seen in Fig. 3, and these strain ers are detachably secured to theA margins of the holes in the partition P by a rabbet strip lf2 and bolts all. rllhey also havehand holds by which they can be lifted out. rlhe space within the conduit P2 communicates with the interior of the cylinder only through the strainers a5, and the conduit is made large enough in cross section to acof naphtha and servesas an off-take for the same. rlhe strainers a5 merely strain the vapo-rized napht-ha and prevent the outlet to the condenser from being clogged with .Stuff blown up by the steam, lf, however,

commodate the expansion and vaporization J able from the man hole with the cover.

straining diaphragm being also in the plane The operation of my percolater is as follows: For charging the garbage into the cylinder, the position shownin Fig. 1 is reversed, and the man hole covers (bearing removable filters) are taken o and the cylinder filled about two thirds full'of garbage. The covers are then secured and the cylinder turned back tothe position shown in Fig. 1. Naphtha is now introduced intov the garbage throughthe perforated pipes by opening valve in pipe d. While naphtha is being introduced, the cylinder may be turned to intermix it with the garbage. The cylin-` der is then allowed to come to rest in the position shown.in Fig. l, andthe naphtha supply is cut oft'. v The drainage pipe als is then connected, by a temporary pipe connection, with some receiving vessel and Ithe naphtha with the dissolved grease and oil drains-away at the bottom through pipe'ials. lVhen no more liquid comes away, the valve c controlling the lower pipes c1 closed and the valve 010 controlling the upper pipes cs is opened and a spray of naphtha is showered down upon the top of `the garbage to wash away tbefinal traces of oil in the garbage,

which also drains away through pipe als.`

To facilitate this draining out of oil, steam pressure may be admitted to the garbage.- After all the oil and naphtha have drained away, the drainage outlet is closed and also valve 01' `and then steam is admitted from pipe da by way of valve c through the lower pipes 01 into the mass of garbage and this vaporizes the naphtha and .drives it up through the strainers a and intothe conduit P2 and thence down P1 to the hollow trunnion and off to the connected condenser, where it is liquefied and saved for further use. The lower manholes are then opened and the more or less solid contents are' allowed to drop out.

It will be seen, from the foregoing, that all the advantages of my former construction are preserved, with the added advantages of simplicity of construction and operation and the location of practically all the pipes and joints inside the cylinder, making the apparatus more selfcontained and freer from derangement, leakage and danger.

It will be understood that the upper man holes are only used at long intervals for repairs or cleaningthe-strainers at. the top.A

It will also benoted that itis impossible ever to close the lpassagevfrom the perco lator to the condenser, which is an important point in insuring' the safety of the apparatus against. explosion.

' In describing the cylinder or drum as horizontal, or. rotating about a horizontal axis, Il would have itl understood, that mean substantially or approximately horlzontal, asv it is obvious that a slight inclination might be given the drum without ma- 1 terially -a-'ecting its action. In using the term man hole, also it is adopted as a term of convenience only, as irf my invent1o`n no man need enter the drum. To guard furtherA against .danger I provide not only the safety valve d", but another safety valve m on the drum itself.

I claim. Y v

l. An apparatus of the kinddescribed, comprising a horizontal rotary drum with hollow trunnions at each end and man holes on the side, external steam and solvent pipes communicating with one of the hollow trunv nions, a transverse pipe arranged within the drum near 1ts head andcommunicating wlth the hollow trunnion, perforated pipes arranged longitudinally in-:the drum and communicating with the outer end of the transverse pipe, a valve in the transverse pipe having operating connections .extending to the exterior of thedrum, a longitudinally arranged vapor oftake conduit having strainers init between the interior of the drum and the conduit and a transverse vapor conduit extending from the longitudinal conduit to the hollow trunnion opposite the steam and solvent inlet.

2 An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a horizontal rotary drum having at one 'end a hollowtrunnion and man holes in the side, a' pipe connecting with said hollow` trunnion and4 arranged within the drum near its head, a valve arranged in said pipe and having operating connections extending tothe exterior through the drum,

'and perforated pipes arranged longitudinear its side and communicating with the curved transverse pipe. n

4. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a horizontal rotary drum having at one end a hollow trunnion and man holes in the side', separate steam and naphtha e tending transverse pipes communicating 130 with the hollow trunnion, two oppositely extending transverse pipes communicating with the hollow trunnion and arranged within the drum and near its head, valves ar ranged in each of said pipes and having operating connections extending to the exterior through the drum, and two sets of perforated pipes arranged longitudinally within the drum near its side walls and communicating respectively with the two valved pipes, thedrum being provided with two sets of man holes on opposite sides, and the perforated pipes on each side of the drum. being arranged in two spaced apart groups on opposite sides of each vset of man holes;

6. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a horizontal rotary drum with hollow trunnion at one end and a set of man holes in the side, a vapor off take conduit arranged within the drum and extending past the man holes and having vapor strainers interposed in the same between the interior ofthe drum and the conduit, and a transverse conduit arranged at the head of the drum communicating at one end with the longitudinal conduit and at the other end with the hollow trunnion. J

7. An apparatus ofthe kind described, comprising a horizontal rotary drum, with hollow trunnion at one end and a set of man holes in the side, a vapor offtake conduit arranged within the drum and extending past the man holes and having -vapor strainers interposed in the same between the interior of the drurn and the conduit, and a transverse conduit arranged at the head ofthe drum communicating at one end with the longitudinal conduit and at the other end with the hollow trunnion and a detachable cover plate in said transverse conduit arranged in the axial line of the hollow trunnion.

8. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a horizontal rotary drum with hollow trunnion at one end and a set of man holes in the side, a partition arranged longitudinally in the drum and extending past the man holes and having detachable strainers in the saine immediately opposite the man holes, and'forming a vapor oil take conduit, and a transverse conduit arranged at the head of the drum and communicating at one end with the longitudinal conduit and at the other end with the hollow trunnion.

In testirnony whereof ll af'rix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

cHARLEs rodearon.

Witnesses CHRISTIAN Prurrrnr, Minoli M. Rnssn'r. 

